Scoot: The new panic over "freedom of speech" violations

by Scoot,posted May 14 2014 7:26PM

Are Americans are really losing their right to freedom of speech, or are Americans reacting differently to free speech that is considered unacceptable?

There seems to be an increase in callers on “The Scoot Show” who are deeply concerned about the loss of freedom of speech. When Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA for a racist rant in a private conversation with his girlfriend, I got a few calls form listeners who said that we, Americans, have obviously lost our right to freedom of speech.

Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones tweeted that he was disgusted by the kiss between openly gay University of Missouri player Michael Sam and his boyfriend after Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. The Dolphins fined Jones and barred him from all team activities until he completes training about insensitive comments.

In an op-ed article titled “Is conservative free speech banned in America?” on FOXNews.com, capitalist, Libertarian-conservative author Wayne Allyn Root wrote, “Views considered ‘too conservative’ ‘too old fashioned’ or ‘politically incorrect’ are no longer tolerated by Obama’s socialist cabal or the ‘thought police.’” While Root says he disagrees with the content of what Dolphins safety Jones said, he argues that the action by the Miami Dolphins was a sign that Americans no longer have freedom of speech when it comes to conservative thought.

Stirring up panic about Americans losing their right to freedom of speech under the Obama administration is typical strategy from the extreme right that is looking for any opportunity to blame President Obama for anything that the right considers wrong with this country.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s comment to a graduating class that America has declared war on Christians also feeds into the hysterical perception that Americans are losing their rights. If America has declared a war on Christians, then there must be casualties. Wars have casualties. During a discussion about this on the show, I asked for specific casualties, no listener came forward with a specific casualty in the war on Christians – which proves that the American war on Christians is a political strategy designed to create panic-inspired votes for Republicans in the upcoming mid-term elections and in the presidential election in 2016.

Americans are not losing their right to freedom of speech – but America is changing, and speech that may once have been considered more acceptable is no longer tolerated by America as a nation. The Obama administration is not to blame for the reaction to some recent examples of the expression of ideas. I don't say that in defense of the Obama administration – I say it in defense of me as a talk show host who refuses to buy into superficial hysteria.

I have the right to freedom of speech, but I am accountable for what I say, and so are you. Many companies have clauses in contracts that hold employees accountable for things they might say that would reflect badly on the company they work for, and even in cases where there is no contractual conduct clause with employees, anyone who says anything that reflects poorly on the image of the company they work for is usually held accountable for what they say. And this is nothing new in America!

America is changing and many on the conservative right are blaming the Obama administration for the country’s changes. But a president more reflects the collective mood and attitude of the country than dictates it. Ronald Reagan reflected who America was in 1980, and Bill Clinton defeated President George H. Walker Bush in 1992 because he represented a changing America.

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 and his re-election in 2012 reflected the changing social and political climate in America that has been rejected by the conservative right. However, rejection of reality does not alter reality.

Younger Americans – those under 45 – women, and minorities are leading the change in attitude. Even many younger conservative Republicans do not agree with the conservative Establishment on issues like same-sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana.

America is changing and if the Republican Party hopes to win the White House in 2016 – then it must recognize the changing attitudes. That does not mean that any individual must change their core beliefs – but as long as those core beliefs are no longer congruent with the prevailing political climate in America, election victories will be elusive.

Panic over the idea that conservative free speech is no longer protected by the 1st Amendment is a political scare tactic that many Americans will unfortunately accept as a true problem. No one has lost their right to freedom of speech – but we are all held accountable for what we say in the context of the society in which we live.

The author of this is trying to justify why he thinks right wing views should be suppressed.
Essentially he is saying "you have the right to say what you want, and reap the repercussions of having your life ruined for saying it"...
In other words HE WANTS THE SAME FREEDOM OF SPEECH THAT THE SOVIET UNION HAD....... IT IS IDENTICAL POLICIES.

05/14/2014 8:24PM

Gay boy scooter

Bought thousands of his idol Michael SAMs jersey. He loves this boy

05/14/2014 8:32PM

Sean and Rush have great ratings

You are so jealous of these guys great success. You are trying to act like a amateur Howard Stern wannabee

05/14/2014 8:38PM

scoot kissing

On your blog why do you not have a picture with you and your boyfriend kissing to hype your gay ratings

05/14/2014 8:54PM

Mob rule

After the absolute hysteria that surrounded the sterling remarks, a few people like mark levin actually broke down the constitution of the NBA. Sterling has a very strong case against the NBA for the commissioner's abuse of power. We don't YET live in a country where your property can be confiscated for your opinion in a secretly recorded message. You actually have to follow the rules, not just what the "experts" tell you. We have freedom of speech, but the totalitarian mindset of the race hustlers and gay promoters is if we disagree with them, they go after your life's work as punishment (see Mozilla CEO). The tea party is more tolerant than the left. You suck scoot

05/14/2014 8:58PM

Reeducation camps

Pretty sure North Korea and China have reeducation camps much like the one the player for the dolphins will have to go to. Pathetic that this is America.

05/14/2014 8:59PM

road to Hell

Selfishness, it's all about me and party all the time will bring you straight to misery and hell

05/14/2014 9:10PM

Read the first amendment

Scoot - I see you posted the text of the first amendment this time. Please refer to the specific wording next time you claim a nativity scene or a cross violates the constitution. You are a completely lazy commentator who does not really challenge the garbage that comes out of equally lazy public officials

05/14/2014 9:14PM

Rush

Yeah, I bet Scoot is really jealous of Limbaugh. 0.5 ratings in Los Angeles. He gets beat out there in conservative Orange County by local talk and four college radio stations featuring kids playing indie rock. Rush is on fire in NYC - #22 on a 50,000 watt heritage station WOR. How about San Francisco? Rush really wins there - 0.7 percent of the audience. "Rush Radio" flunked in Boston, too. I think it's Spanish now, or all-comedy. Check WWL's ratings and tell me again how "jealous" they should be of Limbaugh and Hannity, who hasn't moved his hypocritical rear end out of NY yet despite claiming he would.

05/14/2014 9:15PM

Scoot

Never claimed nativity scenes and crosses violated the 1st Amendment - why don't you listen to the show before posting nonsense? I listen most nights and know for a fact he's never made that statement.

05/14/2014 9:17PM

Rush

The man loses everything but weight! One of Limbaugh's early claims to fame was that he attracted large audiences in major, blue state markets like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. While at KFI, Limbaugh had been part of the city's top-rated morning block. And over the years he was credited for turning WABC in New York into a ratings powerhouse. Indeed, in his prime a decade ago, Limbaugh helped power WABC to become the number five-rated station in all of New York. And in January 2009, Limbaugh bragged his New York rating was a six share. Today, he calls the city's 22nd most-listened station home; its overall rating share is 1.5.
But wait again, KEIB and KNEW are newly flipped stations, so of course the audience is starting out small as it grows over time, right? Not necessarily. KEIB's ratings actually declined from February to March, according to Nielsen, going from .6 to .5. The same holds true in San Francisco, where Limbaugh's new home at KNEW dipped from .8 in February, to .7 in March.

05/14/2014 9:23PM

True

He has maybe not said that exactly, but he did write that trying to make the bible the official state book was a violation of the constitution. He is a very lazy writer.

05/14/2014 9:54PM

Scoot is a joke. A fill-in when sports is not on. Relax.

Scoot spews hate daily. He is not that bright. I listen to XM Radio Sports after 8 p.m.

05/14/2014 10:00PM

Great news!!!!!!

A french scientist says liberal have less than 500 days and then they will all die from global warming. This is truly GREAT news. Imagine how great our planet would be if all liberals dropped dead. America could then make a come back. Hope it happens!!!!
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/french-foreign-minister-500-days-avoid-climate-chaos_792736.html

LOL ... Hey "Climate Change" you believe in the tooth fairy ... get a real job.

... You are the clown that thinks you are going to die ... LOL

05/14/2014 10:07PM

The Flat Earth leftist loons are out tonight ... poor fools.

They pray to Al Gore three times a day.

05/14/2014 10:10PM

Leftist are always raging and hating ...

funny to watch them freak out.

05/14/2014 10:18PM

Well calling everyone a racist that does not worship Obama has not worked

for Scooter and his leftist pals so now they are telling everyone the world will end in 500 days unless you vote DemoRAT ... LOL .. such human debris ... maybe Scoot and his leftist pals will die of fear ... hey, just as long as they die soon ... LOL

05/14/2014 10:22PM

Meanwhile Rush is author of the year ....

while Scooter spend his days trashing people on his blog ...
LIMBAUGH WINS 'AUTHOR OF YEAR' FROM CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL....

05/14/2014 10:38PM

Rush

Should be comedian of the year too - the things he says are almost like a Colbert parody, except sadly, Limbaugh means them.

05/14/2014 10:41PM

this country is divided

I know tis ever since change was elected this country is so divided I worry it cant be fixed. if you speak your mind or your beliefs and it does not go with the left or political correct you are wrong. I am a Christian with Christian beliefs I do not agree with being gay, or other
sins that go against the bible. but at the same time I am not going around trying to hurt anyone why now is this wrong

05/14/2014 10:54PM

Division

Like that suddenly happened because of who got elected. I know plenty of anti-war people who felt their speech was threatened under Bush. Works both ways. They had the "patriot police" down on them for daring to not support a war. Like they were un-American. America in general needs to get off their high horse. You aren't smarter, better or blessed simply because of where you were born.

05/15/2014 12:50AM

Scoot actually does what he accuses everyone else of doing.

He is a joke.

05/15/2014 12:52AM

scoot

Jealous of rush

05/15/2014 12:53AM

Liberalism is a cancer that needs to be cut out at the root.

..

05/15/2014 2:38AM

The Root

Which is what, exactly? Freedom of thought? Freedom of speech? That leads to some people becoming liberals. I suppose you want to ban liberals now?

05/15/2014 7:43AM

free speech =/ consequence-free speech

The first amendment guarantees one's right to speech free from government restriction. It does not guarantee some "right" to be free from the disapproval of others, nor from other private citizens or entities acting in consequence to what you say. Exactly the opposite, in fact. The first amendment ALSO protects the rights of those who disagree with you -- advertisers have the right to say "we don't want to support you with our advertising dollars," network executives have the right to say "we don't want to give you air time on our channel," the NBA has a right to say, "we don't want to give you a franchise," and the rest of the world has a right to say "we think you are vile." These pathetic conservatives who whine that their rights are being trampled when other people exercise their own rights have a very poor understanding of the constitution they supposedly hold so dear.

05/15/2014 7:56AM

Obama ia an economic pedophile.

He is raping the middle class and destroying the economic future of today’s children.

you should lose your job and have your life destroyed. Perhaps Obama and his henchmen should just be honest and do what they wish they could do ... line up those who oppose their views and shoot them in the head.

05/15/2014 8:06AM

Perhaps we should encourage leftist men to stick their penises into

everything that moves. Eventually they will get AIDS and die ... LOL.

05/15/2014 8:13AM

The sad reality of the Homosexual Agenda is they have to recruit

young people especially young boys and teens. They cannot reproduce so they spread propaganda to try and lure young people into their lifestyle. Scoot panders to homosexuals while privately admitting it is slander to be called a homosexual. Scoot is a fraud but then intelligent folks already knew that.

05/15/2014 8:16AM

Perhaps Scoot will eventually lose his gig over his own nightly trashing

Democrats and Scooter Boy asking Americans to unit around and incompetent clown

and serial liar. Well, at least Sen. Mary Landrieu is still willing to spread her legs for Obama.

05/15/2014 9:13AM

We understand it.

No one is saying punishing people for their statements is a violation of the first amendment. We are saying that it is a deplorable practice to try to destroy someone's life achievements based on their beliefs. Maybe some of us feel compelled to speak out against the agenda of 2% of the population. But we don't demand that they be fired for their beliefs. It doesn't make it right or moral to try to destroy someone. Yes we conservatives understand the constitution and revere it. Scoot and others try to paint us as idiots who don't understand how the world works. The Tea party is entirely more tolerant of diverse ideas, even though we reject some of it, we don't want to destroy the person who says it.

05/15/2014 10:00AM

Liberal Radio Talk Show FAILURES ...

The Left talking heads cannot survive without our tax money to prop up their garbage ... hopefully Scoot will soon join the trash heap of failed left-nut radio.
http://www.redstate.com/diary/joesquire/2013/12/27/liberal-radio-blames-everyone-else-for-its-failures/

05/15/2014 11:53AM

Matt Walsh nails it on Michael Sam ... Scoot does not believe in free speech.

Matt Walsh weighed in on Michael Sam, and as usual, he is spot on. He starts off by noting that “if you do anything less than fall to your knees weeping tears of jubilation that a man who is sexually attracted to men was picked to play a game for a living — you’re a homophobe.” He’s absolutely right.
He then outlined why he isn’t celebrating Michael Sam, and knows that the Left will immediately call him a homophobe and bigot, when of course, that couldn’t be further from the truth:
I’m not celebrating Michael Sam, I don’t think anything historic occurred at any point during the NFL Draft (besides the fact that the Raiders actually made a few good decisions), I find this spectacle to be rather embarrassing, I question the motivations of everyone involved, including Michael Sam, and I’ll give you several reasons why:
1) You don’t get to have it both ways. You can tell me that your sexuality is nobody’s business — what you do in your bedroom is between you and whoever you do it with — and I’ll agree. I’ve never taken it upon myself to approach a group of strangers and survey them about their carnal propensities. In my life, I’ve probably had thousands of conversations with thousands of different people. Of those thousands, I can safely say that not once have I begun the exchange by saying, “Hello, my name is Matt. Do you sleep with people of the same gender?”
Seriously, that’s never happened. OK, maybe I can’t say never, but rarely. The point is, I usually don’t grab strangers by their shirt collars and demand that they paint me a vivid portrait of their erotic activities.
Your sexuality is none of my business, right? Yes. Fine. Sounds good to me.
But this “none of my business” shtick is a two way street, friend. What exactly does it mean for a thing to be “none of my business” when you’re holding a press conference and proclaiming it to the entire world?

05/15/2014 11:56AM

Scoot merely believes in leftist having the right to speech. Anyone else

should be punished for their opinions and thoughts. Scooter is a typical DemWIT àsshole. Now Scoot will freak out ... LOL

05/15/2014 12:20PM

“Hi, I am Michael Sam. I like to stick my pénis is other guy's réctums ...

nice to meet you ... but if you don't approve, Scoot and his left-nut buddies will make sure all héll comes down on you ...”

05/15/2014 12:28PM

83% of DC Children Not Proficient in Reading...

liberalism working ... leftist have the right to raise stupid children. LOL no wonder their parents voted for Obama.

05/15/2014 1:32PM

Need to send Obama to the Middle East.

... and when the Muslim Brotherhood eventually grows tired of him and plans his execution, Joe Biden will be too busy fund-raising to send help and the Israelis will not answer the phone. LOL ... such is the joke that America and its so-called leaders have become.

05/15/2014 2:28PM

Scary that WWL would let such a nut job like Scoot host a radio show.

Pretty sad.

05/15/2014 2:59PM

Scary That

The far right wants to censor hosts like Scoot simply because they disagree. When did radio have to be all conservative all the time? I like hearing different views. Reasonable people want to be entertained, and have discussion provoked, not simply hear the same one sided arguments from the endless parade of Rush & Sean clones. Thats no more compelling than a radio station that plays 100 percent ballads. As to the "tolerance" of the tea party, some of their racial rhetoric is straight out of the neo n@zis. Their calls to nationalism, patriotic iconography, love of guns and revolutionary thought and talk of"Real Americans" aka purity of their society, the hypocritical use of faith & religious concepts out of context and their disgust for "the other" lifestyles is downright fascist cloaked in fiscal concern. They are the American T@aliban dressed in sheeps clothing.

05/15/2014 6:02PM

good news /bad news

Scoot is #1 in getting responses to his blog. In fact no one responds to the other hosts blogs. Bad news - no one agrees with his self serving deviant socialist thinking and talking

05/15/2014 6:02PM

We don't want to censor

We don't call for his dismissal, we just call him a lazy writer and not very thoughtful. Your generalization about neo nazis and fascism is just as lazy. Why do I say that? Because both of those ideologies require a totalitarian government running the agenda. If you think about the tea party, their central message is about less government and more individual liberty from the mandates of an all powerful centralized government.

05/15/2014 6:09PM

Tea Party

If the Tea Party is so pro states rights why are they so aggressive against states that choose to enact gun control laws? Shouldn't they respect "states rights?"

Gun rights supporters spit in the face of a disabled woman in a wheelchair. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/guns-bullying-open-carry-women-moms-texas

05/15/2014 8:55PM

Idiots everywhere

So you find some nuts toting guns. Good for you. I guess that makes you feel justified in your belief that everyone who supports the 2nd amendment is a nut and a danger to society. Intellectual laziness again. Some of us are just not subservient in nature as to accept everything that comes out the mouths of these wannabe masterminds.

05/15/2014 9:00PM

Your Side

Coddles the idiots. Not saying all of you are idiots, but until these people are dealt with via force of law and stopped from their intimidation by normal gun owners, they'll continue hurting people. Why don't some of you pay these bad apples avisit?

05/15/2014 9:14PM

Force of law!

There you go wanting to have government force people to act a certain way. Are these idiots breaking any laws? So how exactly should they be dealt with via force of law? Who are all these people hurting? Are they hurting people more than trying to destroy someone's professional career for not embracing the sexual behavior of an extreme minority of this country?

05/15/2014 9:26PM

Force of Law

Simple - you intimidate or disturb the peace with a gun, stalk a woman, spit on her - you serve jail time or are fined, get your weapon taken for at least a certain period of time. Why is that offensive to you, having the law deal with people being creeps and harassing women with the weight of a gun behind them? And yes, harassing victims of gun violence is more offensive than market forces driving out someone who's anti gay.

05/15/2014 9:39PM

Did Rush pick up on this or something???

Face it tea party AMERICA IS CHANGING! WE ELECTED A BLACK PRESIDENT! and NO your bigoted deity that you have created in your own image won't destroy America for allowing gay marriage. 51% of Americans (and far more under 30) support same sex marriage because they acept modern psychologies (part of that thing we call science that so many of the far right think is led by Satan) FACT BASED view that people are born gay, and therefore are guaranteed equal protection under law. That's the 14th amendment, part of the US constitution, you might try reading it. You know, the amendment passed after the civil war, intended to force states to give rights to African Americans. You do know they are no more slaves any more don't you? No wait, that's not true. You still manage to keep minimum wage at slave rates.

05/15/2014 10:23PM

Gay rights

It's hard to logically argue against the 14th amendment and it's application to gay marriage so I won't try to. I can admit this because I am honest and halfway intelligent. I just don't feel it is necessary to try to convince the country that it is a wonderful thing to celebrate and that we all must be quiet and embrace it as wonderful progress for our society. From my perspective, I feel that homosexuality is immoral and is more of a mental disorder than just an equal alternative lifestyle. Could I be wrong.... Sure. Will you call me a bigot.... Of course because that is how you deal with disagreement. Name calling like a child. I also don't believe that if I disagree with the president then that makes me a racist. Come on, the world isn't full of that many racists, people are deeper than what you give us credit for.

05/15/2014 10:55PM

Gay Rights

It's not an issue of if you or i agree with or understand homosexuality. It's a matter of equal rights. So I think it should be celebrated when a country finally enshrines into the law that all men are equal regardless of sexuality, religion or race. THAT is worth being proud of. It's funny. Vegans don't generally try to use the law to discriminate against people who eat at McDonalds, but we think we should accept laws that discriminate against other people's personal choices or beliefs - like being gay. Why is homosexuality the ONLY inequality that people want to defend leaving alone in this country? Why not root out ALL discrimination? Most anti gay marriage people probably dont want to be discriminated against for being conservative, owning a gun, etc, but have no concerns denying gays their rights? It really puzzles me.

05/16/2014 5:49AM

re; Gay rights

Have you reviewed the evidence? in studies of twins separated at birth and re-united as adults (the gold standard of nature vs nurture studies of all kinds), when one such twin was gay, in 50% of the cases (a 5 fold increase over the general population) the other identifies as gay also. Combined with the tremendous social pressure to be "straight", these numbers overwhelmingly support the interpretation of sexual orientation being determined at birth. Does your god make a person a certain way, then condemn him for being that way?? Such a god would be extremely unjust. As far as celebrating, the world also celebrated the end of apartheid and to this day Mandela is a global hero, as he should be.
“The bow of history has a bend towards justice.” MLK

05/16/2014 9:42AM

Right to speak

It seems you have a conservative view and express that thought you can expect repercussion. You are then relegated to a sentence of sensitivity training to change your thought process. You are given ultimatum to conform or loose your job. You should not be punished for expressing an opinion about a certain moral lifestyle especially, if that lifestyle has a direct affect on your lifestyle. Being forced to hire, work, and accommodate for their lifestyle does affect others. You are not infringing on any of the rights of the person or their lifestyle by expressing your view.

05/16/2014 2:57PM

Right to Speak

Sure, you have the right to speak opinions about things that aren't your business and don't affect your marriage or home or bedroom - and society has the right to react unfavorably when you say ignorant things about stuff you know little about.

05/16/2014 10:52PM

Right to speak

None of the examples you have quoted in your response pertains to what is being discussed. What is being referenced are new laws being considered by the Federal Government that will ban business owners from considering moral and ethical conduct in their hiring practices. Just as it is okay for someone to live by certain moral standards it should be equally okay for an owner of a business to consider hiring that person for those standards. That owners religious convictions and personal standards have just as much weight as the person who lives that certain lifestyle.
The second part of the response involves a college student who was forced into a sensitivity training or not graduate because of her Christian beliefs against homosexuality. Her beliefs affected no one, and was stated during open and frank conversations at school. Is this the way your new society handles anyone who disagrees with your view.

05/17/2014 4:14PM

So

If a business owner were of the belief that a black man in an interracial marriage was sinning against God's "natural order" would he have the right to discriminate against that employee? The problem is you can't pick and choose. All people have to be equal under the law - hiring & firing should be done on qualifications and results, not race, gender, orientation, religion or any other factor. Believing personally that homosexuality is a sin does not give you the right to discriminate against or treat homosexuals any differently than straight people. What part of "equal" is difficult here? You don't have the right to discriminate against anyone regardless of what you PERSONALLY believe.

05/21/2014 3:56PM

Response to So

First, what a ridiculous example of discrimination. I know of no organized religion that has such a bigoted view of interracial marriage.
Two, sexual orientation is not one of the protective areas covered by the EEOC. It is not covered because it does not fit any of the criteria set forth by federal guidelines.
Three, jobs are not a right only the opportunity to apply, qualify, and receive fair consideration for the job is protected. The employer can and does set job criteria which can include appearance, moral and ethical conduct. As long as the employer applies these criteria equally they are in no violation. Just because you have an education you may not fit the mold for whatever reason. Do like I and so many others do, look some where else. This is their business and it is about making money. If you fit they will hire you. You do not have the right to demand employment where the employer thinks you do not fit.
You may consider your appearance, moral and ethical conduct acceptable but others may not. You do not have the right to demand special protection to justify this behavior.